Serious post: Lord knows I was subjected to a great deal of bullying as a kid (and some as an adult too). We must call out bullying when we see it. Bullying doesn’t stand up well to the light. Truth, honesty, and courage do. This includes bullying in the modern context, cyberbullying where cowards hide behind the cloak of anonymity making threats or calling names and includes gang and mob behaviour where bullies hide behind pseudonyms in an internet group and discuss others nastily like an adolescent playground clique. It’s still bullying and it hurts. Only now it’s not transcient conversation, it’s a permanent barb.
25 Facts for Bullying Prevention Month
http://www.onlinecollege.org/2011/11/01/25-facts-for-bullying-prevention-month/
1. Thirty-three percent of kids say they’re bullied “every once in a while, but not every week:”
2. Fifty-eight percent of kids say they’ve never bullied a peer
3. Victim-blamers are more likely to bully
4. Around five percent of students avoid school outright
5. Apathy and fear motivate office bullying
6. Four out of five LGBTQIA teens feel like they have no support from teachers and administrators
7. Twenty-two percent of LGBTQIA teens have skipped school for safety reasons
8. There are three “styles” of bullying
9. Bullying increases the risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors
10. No state has passed laws regarding hazing or cyberbullying
11. More than half of minority students receive race- and ethnicity-related slurs in school
12. Native American students receive more bullying for their religious views than anything else
13. Less than half of bullied minority students report incidents
14. The staggering majority of school bullying situations receive no intervention
15. Most kids are cyberbullies…and most kids are cyberbullied
16. Eighty percent of arguments end in physical altercations
17. Most education professionals consider bullying a “minor problem:”
18. Most education professionals witness bullying approximately once a month
19. Eighty-nine percent of education professionals think it their job to intervene
21. But what’s the point, if only 54% of educational professionals receive anti-bullying training?
22. Twenty-one percent of middle and high schoolers report gang presence on campus
23. No gender delineation exists in bullying
24. Six percent of students carry weapons to school
One of the main reasons I became a librarian is that I found refuge in the school library before and after school and at recess. I spent many nights in the public library escaping neighbourhood bullies and physical and verbal violence. I made friends of the librarians there and they greatly helped my damaged self-confidence and self esteem. Don’t ever suspect that the library has no role to play in anti-bullying strategies or that there’s not a personal side and consequence to every interaction in your library life.
Sadly there have been too many incidents of bullying and harrassment in our profession too. Congratulations and kudos to Sarah Houghton Jan(the awesome Librarian in Black) for standing up against bad behaviour. (http://librarianinblack.net/librarianinblack/2011/10/creepy.html)
So do what you can.
Watch the video collections:
It gets better.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7skPnJOZYdA
Give a Damn
http://www.youtube.com/user/WEGIVEADAMN
Words Hurt: Anti Bullying Channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1j6YA03hm4k&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PLDD3DB7E70C9CC3AC
It matters.
Stephen
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Bullying is a serious problem affecting millions of children. It can interfere with their social and emotional development, as well as their school performance. 19,000 children attempt to commit suicide every year as a direct result of being bullied. To help combat this, I have put together a bully prevention show for elementary schools & libraries called “The STOP Bullying Show”. Based out of Orlando, Florida, the show raises the awareness of bullying in a fun & engaging way; while teaching kids what they can do to put a stop to it. Highlights of the show can be seen here…
http://youtu.be/2qAvD01RD9E
http://www.StopBullyingShow.com